Working With Foals Weanlings & Yearlings
For years young horses have really fascinated me. There is nothing more thrilling than playing with a sensitive keen mind and an open spirit. Whether its a foal weanling or yearling its all fun to me.
One of my favourite pastimes is watching the interaction among youngsters and their mamas. There is so much to learn how the foals discover the language of horse the respect that is gained and the love that is given. Many years ago I was watching Ronnie Willis a mentor that I often mention in my articles and clinics. Ronnie was working with a new foal. He wanted to make this first contact with the human touch the best experience possible. As he leaned down and allowed the foals curiosity to build its confidence enough to come over for a sniff Ronnie said Its hard to tell if youre working on the start or the finish!
We dont realize how much the initial handling of a young horse will impact its future. The horse is so very different from humans. In order to survive horses are born ready to learn. They learn so much more in the first few days of their lives than the human brain is capable of during the same time period. During the first three days the foal can run stop turn pick up both leads and maybe even throw in a buck or two. He learns the majority of the language that he needs to be safe and just by looking at the stance of mama and the herd he can tell whether its time to relax and play or run for his life The horse is a precocial species offspring born relatively mature and independent mobile from the moment of birth and that sets them apart from humans as an altricial species highly dependent incapable of moving on their own at birth. One of the main differences is that horses are neurologically mature enough to learn at birth unlike humans who have a very limited ability at birth as our human
